After another shopping trip to Sumber on 3 June, Abu had the idea to camp at a site north of the village. A couple of kilometers later we made a first attempt to find the right place but instead of this we located our first singing Chinese Bush Warblers. Because of the high density of mosquitoes down in the valley and the low density of birds we chose a campsite above the eroding bank of the Khalkh gol (Khalkh river). Here we settled down for the next few nights (3 to 6 June and again from 9 to 10 June). Although not totally mosquito-free, this site was well chosen not only for its beautiful settings but also for a set of first class bird species (see part12: Baikal Bush Warbler).

Even before the camp was ready for occupation, two Eagle Owls jumped from the rocky edge below our camp ground. To us it seemed that their large flight distance could be a hint for a more intense hunting activity in this area. The birds kept a distance of more than 150 meters despite the high probability that they had their owlets in the area (we did not find their nest, though).

During our stays we explored the area and the team found Black-browed Reed Warblers (just arrived and singing all day!), Pallas's Grasshopper Warblers, Thick-billed Warblers, Siberian Rubythroats, Daurian Starlings, Yellow-browed and Radde’s Warblers, one territory of a Lanceolated Warbler, 2 or 3 territories of Lesser Whitethroat and a Siberian Blue Robin trying to hide inside a bush. Furthermore, we found at least 6 territories of Chinese Bush Warbler as well as 3 Black-naped Orioles and a Yellow-breasted Bunting which was singing from the reeds. One day (4 June) we spotted a migrant White-throated Needletail which was seen by most of us thanks to the use of radio! A singing Brambling was present in the willows all the time.

It was not only that we had to celebrate the birthday of one of us during our stay at the camp, with lots of shashlik and drinks, the birds were responsible for repeated celebrations, too:On 4 June Armin started another expedition and in an “African Savanna”-like habitat and he accidentally came across a bird he was not familiar with. The unknown bird was shouted out via radio and identification help was on its way soon after. What it turned out to be will be posted next!

December 8, 2015

Novemberbirding

text & photos by ABu

This year I spent the entire November in Mongolia, the first complete November here for me. Unfortunately I had not much time to go out birding, mainly because of lots of family commitments, and the weather also played against me: Not that it had been extremely cold, but there were many days with snowfall and heavy overcast conditions, not ideal for a guy who also likes to take photographs. The Tuul River, which runs through Ulaanbaatar’s south did not completely freeze over all month, but my stroll mid-month along a c.5 km-long stretch did not yield any observations of the “better” birds like Solitary Snipe or White-throated Dipper.So I went to the area below Songino Khairkhan Uul to the west of the capital three times, on 7, 14 and 27 Nov 2015. The trees were full of berries, hence I expected lots of berry-eaters like thrushes and waxwings. I ended up with a single observation of a Red-throated Thrush and the maximum of Bohemian Waxwings at the site was a poor 30. Very disappointing!Photographic options were likewise limited. Most birds gave me a wide berth and one day it even started to snow just after I had arrived. Nevertheless I hope that my selection of pictures will be pleasing.

There are two species of bush warbler on the Mongolian Bird list: Chinese or Tacsanowski’s Bush WarblerLocustella tacsanowskia and Baikal Bush WarblerL. davidi. Both subspecies of the latter could occur (even as breeders) in the country, but to our knowledge there are almost no sightings, and until now there was no photograph of a bird in field available. In fact, the only record of Baikal Bush Warbler known to us is of one bird captured in south-central Mongolia during migration. Note 1 The Asian bush warblers formerly subsumed within the genus Bradypterus have recently been ascribed to the genus Locustella.Note 2 Baikal Bush Warbler was formerly considered conspecific with Spotted Bush Warbler L. thoracica (sometimes still called Bradypterus thoracicus).

Note 3 Gombobaatar & Monks (2011) list only B. t. przewalskii for Mongolia in the Mongolian Red List of Birds. This taxon, now considered a subspecies of Spotted Bush Warbler sensu stricto does not occur in Mongolia.

Bush warblers are notorious skulkers and very small, making any observation difficult, and it is hard to acquire decent photos. So, the first obstacle to overcome is always to find a bush warbler. After that, one has to find a way of taking a picture. The bird featured here was found by me by almost stepping on it while it was moving through ankle high grass just a few km north of Sumber—exactly at the site, where we had recorded two new species for Mongolia in 2011 (Eastern Crowned Warbler and Band-bellied Crake). It flew to a low branch and gave a short juicy “chuck” call before it retreated into the thick undergrowth. I immediately sat down but it took almost 10 minutes until I got good enough views to identify it. Then I alarmed my fellow birdwatchers via radio. Unfortunately, they arrived too late and the bird did not show again then. A few hours later, Matze, Sönke and I(the others were bird watching elsewhere) tried the site again and indeed, the bird popped out from the very dark dense cover. We fired some shots but those I achieved were pitch black on the display of the camera (see above). With the help of some friends and a lot of digital processing it was possible to make the bird visible, see below. Amazing technology that is at hand nowadays!

All pictures are of the same individual, the only one we came across during our trip. It showed characters of the western subspecies L. d. suschkini (breeding from the foothills of the northern Russian Altai in a narrow belt to the southern part of the Baikal region), notably:

reddish brown confined to forecrown

greyish nape-sides

dark spots on breast coalescing to form a dark grey patch

This is a bit strange, since the bird appeared within or close to the potential breeding area of the eastern subspecies, the nominate form (breeding in Russia in SE Transbaikalia E to W Amurland, and NE China). However, it is quite likely that the bird was still on migration to its more westerly breeding grounds.More to come soon…

November 18, 2015

Actually, we had not been only once, but three times in Sumber during this trip in June 2014. As this village is the only large settlement in the Far East of Mongolia, it is mandatory to go there, for refueling provisions or for taking gas from the only gas station. And if you want to visit Nömrög Strictly Protected Area you also have to pay the SPA headquarters plus the border police station a visit. Of course we had lunch there, and, on one occasion, even had to seek for a new tyre. Because the administrative visits are well known to always take some time, we even could do some birding in and around the village. Apart from the standard village bird species we found a group of 8 Grey-headed Lapwings including a bird that was sitting on its nest at the nearby river. Another goodie was found even within the village: Grey-streaked Flycatcher. This bird had been heard singing high up in a poplar tree but then ventured down into the remains of a building where the photographers were able to take some decent pictures. Probably all of the few previous reports of this flycatcher from Mongolia are undocumented, and thus the photos presented here might be the first ironclad proof that the species does occur in Mongolia sometimes!

JustificationThis species has undergone extremely rapid population declines within its European range. The majority of its range lies outside Europe where it was not thought to be declining at a sufficiently rapid rate to approach the threshold for Vulnerable. However recent information suggests that the population outside Europe may be exposed to greater threats than was previously thought and has also undergone very rapid recent declines across much of the range. It is therefore classified as Endangered.

Next morning, on 3 June, we had again a horrible experience in the bushes. All the group members were totally annoyed due to the incredible density and agression of the local mossies. Therefore not everybody had an enthusiastic start into the day. However, Abu walked fearless away and after a while he reported via radio a second for Mongolia: Dollarbird aka Broad-billed Roller!At first he thought that he had found a single Dollarbird, but in fact we observed two individuals hawking insects above the dense riparian vegetation, very often returning to a favorite perch. We observed them for about 30 minutes, but always from a large distance. Any attempt to get closer to the birds was halted by the impenetrable vegetation.The most likely subspecies (based on range) involved is the migratory E. o. calonyx. At least the better photographed individual of he two can be aged as adult by its red bill. That two birds together had been seen catching their prey at the same spot does not have to mean that they did or intended to breed there, but it is not impossible that they did or tried, given the fact that there are larger trees—they breed in old woodpecker holes—available.The only other Mongolian record of the species concerns an observation of a flyby (photographed by Shane McPherson) in open steppe of Khentii province near Darkhan on 17 June 2006 (Gombobaatar et al. 2007).

Wow, what a fantastic spot! Despite the amazing birds around the camp we decided later to abandon the camp to switch to a more dry area where we hoped to meet with less smaller flying objects there. So we went back to Sumber for a quick pit stop and found some further good birds, but this will be on show next… keep on checking Birding Mongolia!LitatureGombobaatar, S., Munkhzaya, B., Gantulga, B., Odkhuu, B., McPherson, S. 2007. A new finding for Mongolian bird species and unusual bird migration in the steppe. Scientific Proceedings of the Biological Institute of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences 26:104-107.

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BIRDING MONGOLIA covers any topic concerning wild birds in Mongolia: conservation, migration, observations, identification, projects, events etc. Contributions on other aspects of Mongolia’s natural heritage, as well as information from regions bordering Mongolia, are also featured from time to time.

Axel Bräunlich

I have been birding in Mongolia since 1995. Birding Mongolia was originally set up in March 2007, providing information on the fabulous birdlife (especially migration) at my local patch in Khovd, near the Altai Mountains in the west of the country, where I lived from 2005 to 2007. The blog grew rapidly, with contributions coming from more and more observers, and covering other parts of Mongolia, too.

Andreas Buchheim

I have been visiting Mongolia since 2004. It all started with gull research trips, but I now come to Mongolia at least twice a year, staying for about 6 months annually since 2010, not only for the continuing gull research but now mainly to be with my Mongolian wife and our son and to go birding. As a quasi resident of Ulaanbaatar, I do most of my birding around the city during winter but, luckily, I can visit the even more fascinating rural regions of this rapidly changing country during the warmer seasons.

Contributions (observations, photos, news etc) are very welcome! Any material contributed will be acknowledged and the copyright will remain with the author(s).

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